Help & Guides

Managing Your Data

Learn how to export, restore, import, test, and permanently remove your BananaBird financial data.

Managing Your Data

BananaBird gives you several tools for managing the financial information stored in your account.

JSON Export
Download a complete backup of your BananaBird financial data.

JSON Import
Restore a BananaBird JSON backup by replacing your current financial data with the contents of the file.

CSV Import
Populate or update Snapshot-related data using a spreadsheet or another source that can produce a compatible CSV file.

Demo Data
Load a sample dataset into an empty account so you can explore BananaBird.

Delete All My Data
Permanently remove the financial data stored in your BananaBird account.

Exporting Your Data

The Export Data option downloads a JSON file containing a complete backup of your BananaBird financial data.

Your financial data belongs to you. BananaBird provides a complete export so you can always keep your own copy of the information you have entered and maintain control over your financial history.

The export includes your Accounts, Assets, Income sources, Expenses, Snapshots, Account and Asset values, contribution and withdrawal activity, Income items, Expense entries, and Expense rules.

The downloaded file can later be imported back into BananaBird to restore the exported financial dataset.

Exporting your data is a good idea before performing a destructive action such as importing a JSON backup or deleting all of your financial data.

Restoring a JSON Backup

JSON import is intended for restoring a BananaBird data export.

Before importing, you can select Test File to verify that BananaBird recognizes the file and review how many Accounts, Assets, Income sources, Expenses, Snapshots, and related items it contains.

JSON import replaces your existing financial data. BananaBird first deletes your current financial dataset and then restores the contents of the selected JSON file.

Use a JSON import when you want to restore a BananaBird backup, not when you simply want to add a few historical Snapshot values.

What a JSON Backup Contains

A BananaBird JSON backup preserves the financial records and relationships needed to reconstruct your tracked data.

  • Accounts and their settings
  • Assets and their settings
  • Income sources
  • Expenses
  • Expense recurring rules
  • Expense entries
  • Snapshots, including status and notes
  • Account and Asset values recorded in Snapshots
  • Contribution and withdrawal items
  • Income items

Internal references in the export allow BananaBird to recreate the relationships between these records when the file is imported.

Importing Data from CSV

CSV import is useful when you already have historical financial information in a spreadsheet or another system and want to bring Snapshot-related values into BananaBird.

Unlike JSON restore, CSV import does not recreate your Account, Asset, or Income definitions. CSV columns are matched against items that already exist in BananaBird.

Each CSV row represents a Snapshot date and can contain Account balances, Asset values, Income amounts, contribution or withdrawal activity, and an optional Snapshot note.

Read more about CSV imports

Demo Data

If your account does not yet contain financial data, BananaBird can load a demonstration dataset.

Demo data lets you explore the Dashboard, charts, tables, Snapshots, and other features without first creating your own financial history.

Demo data cannot be loaded into an account that already contains financial data. Delete the existing data first if you intentionally want to replace it with the demo dataset.

Deleting All Financial Data

Delete All My Data permanently removes the financial records stored in your BananaBird account.

This includes Accounts, Assets, Income sources, Expenses, Snapshots, balance values, contribution and withdrawal items, Income items, Expense entries, and Expense rules.

This action cannot be undone. Export a JSON backup first if there is any possibility you may want the data again.

Deleting all financial data is different from closing your BananaBird account. Your user account remains available so you can begin again with an empty financial dataset.

Which Option Should I Use?

I want a backup of everything.
Use Export Data (JSON).

I want to restore a BananaBird backup.
Use Import Data (JSON).

I have historical Snapshot data in a spreadsheet.
Use Import Data (CSV).

I want to explore BananaBird before entering my own information.
Use Load Demo Data while your account is empty.

I want to start over but keep my BananaBird account.
Export a backup if needed, then use Delete All My Data.

Still have questions?

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